Maybe Gregory found some clues through that bracelet.

He asked for the names of all the maids who had taken care of me for the first time.

Zoey was a maid who grew up with me. We were like sisters. She accompanied me when we went out by invitation.

She and I were both kidnapped, and Zoey was raped and killed herself by hitting the wall.

As I expected, Gregory suspected that my body was Zoey's.

"I know she's a selfish person who doesn't care about ethics. I can't believe the Minister of Revenue have such a daughter!"

Gregory had always hated me. On our wedding night, he lifted my veil. As the red candles flickered, I was filled with joy, thinking that I had married the love of my life.

But to my surprise, Gregory looked distressed.

"Darling, is there anything bothering you?"

My mother said that a wife must learn how to read the room. Besides, my husband, Gregory, was no ordinary man. He was appreciated by the emperor. So, I must be careful around him.

"Rosa, can you allow me to marry Ellen and make her my other wife tomorrow?"

I could tell that he was relieved when he popped the question. It was as if his happiness depended on that.

For no reason, tears streamed down my face. I felt choked, and I couldn't utter a word.

Seeing me weeping helplessly, Gregory simply left the wedding chamber and stayed overnight in the study room alone.

I knew Gregory had a childhood sweetheart named Ellen Sean.

She was his first love, the love of his life.

I, on the contrary, in Gregory's eyes, was just a bad woman who took away the position of his beloved.

So, after the wedding day, he never entered my room again.

It took Gregory quite some effort to find a blood-soaked cloth bag on the roadside outside the capital.

I reached out to touch it, but the head in the cloth bag wasn't mine.

It was Zoey's.

Coroner Linch opened the cloth bag personally. The head had been badly corroded, but the hairpins on the head were still there. I wonder if Gregory could recognize that it was Zoey.

I tried to take Zoey's head back. She was like a big sister to me!

I opened my mouth, wanting to beg Gregory to seek justice for Zoey. But my effort was in vain because Gregory couldn't hear anything.

He quickly confirmed that it was Zoey's body.

He returned home in anger. This was the second time he had entered my room since we got married.

"Where's Rosa Finn?"

My soul trembled when I heard him calling my name. I thought he had completely forgotten my name.

"Sir. Lady Finn hasn't returned."

Gregory clenched his fists and slapped my dressing box filled with pearls and jade.

"She did such a shameful thing and caused someone to die for her, and yet she still has the mood to have fun!"

I was shocked and painful to hear that. I felt like crying, but there was nothing when I stroked my face.

So, he thought I was a despicable person who disregards others for my own benefit.

And now, I became the only clue in this strange case that could help tell who killed Zoey.

Therefore, even if Gregory didn't want to see me, he had to find me.

I watched Gregory place Zoey's head and my body in the same coffin.

His men brought the coffin to the gate of Finn's Residence.

I was heartbroken as I watched my parents rush out, open the coffin, and look inside for a long time.

My parents were a loving couple, and they pampered me a lot.

However, Gregory, whom my parents regarded as a good match for me, was now questioning them with a coffin on a cart.

"Lord Finn. Your daughter gave her jade bracelet to Zoey, causing her to die so miserably. I hope Mr. Finn can hand your daughter over now!"

I looked at Gregory in anger. 'Gregory, do you know what you are talking about? They are your father-in-law and mother-in-law!'

"What are you saying? Isn't Rosa in your house?"

My mother fainted from anger hearing this. My father helped her up and looked at Gregory with a sullen face. "Lord Mason, you can just search my place if you want!"

My father had been an honest and upright person all his life. He had no other children but me.

After much research, my parents finally decided to let me marry Gregory.

Since Gregory's father and my father were close friends. So, my parents thought marrying me to Gregory would be a good thing and bring the two families even closer.

But they didn't expect that I disappeared just half a year after Gregory and I got married.

And Gregory, my husband, came to find me so that he could accuse me of a crime that I didn't commit.

As expected, Gregory led his men into my parents' house. This was also the first time he entered my boudoir.

In my boudoir, there were only a few scattered calligraphy and paintings that I once copied.

There was also a folding fan that I had made, which I gave to Gregory, but he returned it to me with a cold face.

The soldiers even searched the woodshed in the backyard. It was a pity that I only realized what kind of person Gregory was at that moment.

"My lord, we didn't find Her Ladyship."

My father's face darkened. "How long has my daughter been missing? Where did she go before missing? How did Zoey die? Where did she die? You're the Commandant. Have you found out everything?"

My father questioned Gregory aggressively. He was so angry that he began to cough violently. I reached out to pat my father's back to ease his cough, but I failed.

"I..."

"As the Commandant, you failed your job and didn't find a missing person. As Rosa's husband, you don't even care about where she is. You don't deserve to be her husband!"

My father put his fist against his lips and kept coughing. I was dead. It was late autumn. I wish I could make his favorite syrup for him.

'Father. Mother. I'm so sorry.'

I knelt and kowtowed to them. I owed anyone except them.

"Keep searching!"

Gregory didn't say a word to respond to my father. He only told his men to continue searching.

"My lord. The distinguished guest from the Hope Brothel wants Miss Sean to entertain him. Please help her!"

May stopped Gregory, who was about to go to the crime scene to investigate, in the street and asked him to go to the Hope Brothel.

Looking at the little girl in brightly colored clothes, I realized that she was the maidservant of Gregory's sweetheart.

Gregory gritted his teeth and said a few words to his men, then turned around and followed May.

He actually left his official duties behind and went to the Hope Brothel in the middle of the day.

Was that the clear-headed Commandant Mason who had solved countless cases as rumored should do?

I couldn't help but smile bitterly. 'Dad. Mom. You were wrong about Gregory, and I was wrong, too.'

But it was pointless to regret it now...

I raised my eyes and looked in the direction where Gregory left. I was curious about what Hope Brothel looked like.

There were many young men outside the brothel. Anyone who had some money would want to come in to have a drink and listen to some music.

Ellen Sean was well-known for her beauty and a famous prostitute in the Hope Brothel.

During the six months since the Sean family fell from power, Ellen relied on her old relationship with Gregory to avoid entertaining guests like others.

Gregory quickly ran to Ellen's room on the second floor as soon as he entered Hope Brothel.

Seeing someone holding a wine glass and forcing Ellen to drink, he was so angry that his whole body was shaking. In the next moment, Gregory punched the man in the face with all his strength.

"Get out!" Gregory's shout instantly sobered the drunk man up. The man immediately got up from the ground and ran out the door.

Gregory gently embraced the crying girl in his arms and comforted her softly.

"Didn't you say you could redeem me and take me away? Haven't you get Rosa's allowance yet?"

Gregory frowned and replied, "She's missing. Who knows what trick she's playing no?"

Ellen became sullen instantly. She looked at Gregory, looking innocent. "Is she jealous because you always come to me?"

"Don't worry. I'll draw up the divorce paper when she comes back. Then, we will get married."

"You can't do that. What happened to my father will implicate you. I can't just take her place as the mistress of your house."

She looked helpless, but her eyes showed that she was pleased.

"I heard that a headless female corpse in the capital. Have you found out who that person is?"

Gregory looked at Ellen with great concern.

"It's Zoey's."

Ellen smiled a little. Her eyes looked cunning.

"What about Rosa? Isn't Zoey her personal maid?"

Gregory's eyes were filled with anger. "Rosa Finn gave Zoey the bracelet my mother gave her, which put Zoey in danger. But she just hid herself and refused to show up!"

"Let's not talk about her. Do you want me to redeem you first and let you live somewhere else?"

Ellen frowned, tears coming out. "I don't want to be your mistress!"

I felt bitter seeing Ellen's double face.

Gregory once told me that Ellen wouldn't covet everything I had if she became his other wife. 'Now that I'm gone, Ellen said she didn't want to be a mistress. That means, she wants to be Gregory's lawful wife!' I thought.

"Okay, okay. I'll do as you say. But don't accept other people's invitations recently."

Ellen nodded and leaned in Gregory's arms.

They did seem to love each other a lot.

If that was the case, why did Gregory marry me in the first place and deceive me like this?